# Keep my head from exploding. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 21, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-my-head-from-exploding/88693 "2001-10-21T06:36:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-my-head-from-exploding/88693/1 "2001-10-21T06:36:15Z")
What’s the most powerful de-stressing thing I can do in a small amount of space for a small amount of money? Okay, the SECOND most powerful de-stressing thing. (My next Pit thread title: I’M NEVER GONNA SCORE!) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-my-head-from-exploding/88693/2 "2001-10-21T06:39:02Z")
A version of the first one only without a partner. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-my-head-from-exploding/88693/3 "2001-10-21T06:48:01Z")
Blow bubbles. Watch the cat chase them. Watch the cat freak out when they pop on his nose. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-my-head-from-exploding/88693/4 "2001-10-21T07:00:43Z")
Find an oldies station on the radio and sing along LOUDLY. It takes your mind off anything else, and the controlled breathing helps calm your body. Works for me! ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-my-head-from-exploding/88693/5 "2001-10-21T07:00:43Z")
ooh! bubbles! _chase, chase, chase, POP!_ Eeeeeeeeeeeeek! 😃 well, i think the most powerful de-stressing thing in the world is cuddling up with another cat and purring. amazing, what it’ll do for you… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trucido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Trucido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trucido)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-my-head-from-exploding/88693/6 "2001-10-21T07:49:38Z")
Play with fire. No, really, just build a small one somewhere. Something about the act of feeding it, stoking it is very primal. The idea that you’re generating this essential warmth, the control over nature that a properly built fire represents is calming. Spending some time outside, especially if it’s at night, in front of a fire is an experience that can contract the world into a small, flickering circle of warmth. Problems seem very far away. That, or you could just take a gallon of gasoline and some matches to the source of your problem. ---
**Author:** ![saepiroth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@saepiroth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saepiroth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-my-head-from-exploding/88693/7 "2001-10-21T17:51:46Z")
> [@](#): > > **That, or you could just take a gallon of gasoline and some matches to the source of your problem.** bah, throwing gasoline on your problems… that’s so juvenile. _I_ use thermite on their engine block. so much more efficient. chlorine gas capsules in their glovebox works wonders, too. ohhhhh, that was a _joke_… ---
**Author:** ![drillrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@drillrod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drillrod)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-my-head-from-exploding/88693/8 "2001-10-21T17:56:40Z")
Run. Just go out and run for oh, about 20-30 minutes. Any pace will do. If you jog along, you can appreciate the scenery and enjoy the day. If you actually **run, run, run** you’ll wear yourself out. Either way, I find it very difficult to stay stressed out after a run. ---
**Author:** ![TheOtherOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@TheOtherOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOtherOne)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-my-head-from-exploding/88693/9 "2001-10-21T18:00:15Z")
You could meditate, read a book, do push-ups until your arms fall off, go to a target range and shoot shit with guns all day, or, my personal favorite, play drums violently until your body goes numb 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KeithT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KeithT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithT)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2001, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-my-head-from-exploding/88693/10 "2001-10-21T19:59:36Z")
It’s an amazingly nice day outside (at least in Madison)… I can see literally no clouds from my window, it’s warm enough to go outside in a t-shirt, and the trees are still bursting with fall color. Why not go for a nice, long walk? It’s free, getting all that fresh oxygen and light exercise will make your brain very happy, and you can even do a little light reflection and meditation while you walk. Good comedy is also a powerful cure for stress… it’s impossible for me to feel angry or depressed if my sides are in stitches.